Giving Thanks

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the world You have placed me in. Thank You for my wife, Karen, who stands by me when I'm a complete moron. Thank You for my family; Dad and Wick, Julie and Mark, John, Lisa and Bob, Michael and Paula, Peter and Kathleen, Phil and Rose, Pat and Ines, George, Tom and Catherine, Joe, Jake and Rachel, dear Kiki and Lexie. Thank You for my other, newer family, Blaine and Barbara, Elaine and Joe.

Thank You for all my friends in Richmond, this amazing community of theatre and musical artists. Thank You for everyone who reads this stupid blog, especially those who eviscerate my opinions and logic. Bless them all. They are also my family.

Thank You for the faith communities I have been blessed by at Redeemer Lutheran and Christ Church. Thank You for the opportunity and burden of leadership in worship.

Thank You for my family at Richmond Shakespeare, and thank You for guiding me back to them when I wanted to leave. Thank You for the efforts of Grant and Cynde and the board; thank You for their successes and failures and for showing me where I fit in.

Thank You for Curtis Morrisette.

Thank You that As You Like It has a full cast this early! Thank You for Adam, Patrick, Sunny, Julia and Frank.

Thank You for our new house. Thank You for all those freaking leaves, which have completely erased any progress I made raking last weekend. Thank You for the mouse, the camel crickets, the opossum skeletons, and the deer.

Thank You for a Red Sox Championship and a Jimmy Rollins NL MVP! Thank You that Dream Theater just gets better and better, Shakespeare remains the greatest, and Joe Jackson has a new album coming out in January. Thank You that I bleed burgundy and gold. Thank You for me new phone and my old computer monitor.

Thank You for Mercutio and Sebastian, who wake me up two hours before I wanted to just because they want me to be awake with them.

Thank You that You keep me so busy serving You that I don't know which way is up. Thank You for my new duties with Richmond Shakespeare, and bless my efforts. Grow me to meet the challenge and make me awesome in Your name.

Thank You for the things I fail at. Thank You for frustrating me out of complacency.

Thank You that my needs are few and that You meet and exceed them. Thank You that my cup runneth over.

Give thanks to the Lord, God and King, Savior and Brother, Master and Friend. His love and mercy endure forever, even when we are blind to it. He gives everything we have, and that's a fact.

Give thanks this Thanksgiving, my friends, to whomever you choose and for everything you have. As much as Christmas, this holiday's spirit should live in our hearts every day.